Aeroplane



- P. DE CREQUY.

AEROPLANEE 1 APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1. I913. RENEWED AUG. 3. 1918. l

PAUL DE CREQUY, or BRIGHTON,- ENGLAND.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1920.

Application filed October 1, 1913, Seri a1 No. 792,8O1. Renewed August 3, 1918. Serial No.=248,229.

T 0 all w hom it may concern Be it known that I, PAUL DE CRE UY, a citizen of France, and a resident of Belgravia, lVellington Road, New Brighton, Cheshire, England, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.v v

This invention which relates to aeroplanes has for its object certain new features and improvements in existing ones, and for the better understanding of the invenion reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an end view of the frame and wings of any aeroplane showing some features of my invention. Fig. 1 is a detail view hereinafter described.

Figs. 2, 2 and 3 are details thereof.

Figs. 4 and P show a modification of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 illustrates an improved elevator or stabilizer which will act also as an automatic equilibrator, one being used at the back also, if desired, but preferably only as a stabilizer. Fig. 6 is an end view of a portion of a biplane showing some of my improvements. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of mymachine. Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion of a monoplane showing the arrangement of my air-sluices' in the wings or planes for descending.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, 2 and 3, 1 is the frame, 2 the wings or planes which in this caseare articulated to the frame, near the vertical center thereof at each side, and 3 are the stays. It is well known that ordinary rigid stays frequently break, thereby being the cause of many accidents. Now to prevent this I provide flexible stays by means of springs which may be of any suitable type but preferably those shown in Fig. 3, in which the springs are compressed .by one or more pistons in a casing or tube as shown. The important novelty is that these elastic stays, adequately extensible and on articulated wings, are used in conjunction with either a simple mode of gearing the wings directly together, as shown in Fig. 1 (in which the toothed wheels are on the same pivot as the wing articulations), or preferably in conjunction with cross connections for reciprocal'transmission from wing to wing of any difference of air pressure between both wings, as further described. In Fig. 2 which is a modification of Fig. 2, two tubes 5 and 5 are shown, one sliding into'the other is pivoted at 6 to the frame and the other at 7 to the wings or planes they contain together 3 springs of which the center one alone is compressed when the wing goes downward (therefore it must be stronger than the other two). When the wings or planes are forced upward, the piston 4 compresses the top spring, and the inner tube 5 compresses the bottom spring as will be obvious from the drawing. The stays or what I may term spring cables are strong enough to support the weight of wings and the load in flight and also not to be affected by a moderate gust of wind but they will be sensitive enough to act as shockabsorbers in the case of a gust of wind of sufficient strength to imperil the transverse equilibrium of the machine. In addition to the shock absorbing stays or spring cables I provide reinforcing springs 10 preferably of spiral form, which will only come into their strongest action when the spring cables have reached a certain degree of extension. If using ordinary spiral springs they will be in two portions, which will separate from each other as shown in Fig. 2 as the wings move. These reinforcing springs will be of any well known kind whose normal tension can be regulated, especially those above the pivot of the wings, as they will have to possess an excess of power sufficient to compensate for the weight of load. As the load will vary, the theoretical horizontality of the wings will then vary slightly, having a tendency to form an in-. verted angle below the horizontal, which is the reason why in practice I will have wings placed normally at a dihedral angle, that is to say slightly V-shaped (a recognized condition of inherent lateral stability), and the said springs will be so regulated as not to allow the wings to be contracted below the horizontal, as the inverted angle, which is the reverse of the favorable dihedral angle, is opposed to stability. When the machine rests on land or water with its load therefore sustained, the wings will be horizontal or only at a slight angle, as the springs in question are then completely relieved from the pull of the load which they counter-bal ance in flight, the load naturally acting then to accentuate the V-shape of the wings. Fig. 1 also illustrates by dotted lines the theory of reciprocal transmission of movement by cross-connection from the above portion of one wing to the under portion of the other wing (or set of planes), whereby the springs of both wings take equal share of wind absorption and automatic lateral equilibrium is thus insured. This cross-connection con sists, in one form, of cables 11 runnin on pulleys 12 and following the direction of the arrows if a wing is forced upward and the reverse direction if a wing is forced downward. These cables 11 could be directed on more pulleys so as to be clear of the body. In Fig. 4 an alternative application of this principle of reciprocal transmission of any extra air-pressure is obtained by two crossed cables or chains, or pivoted rods (13), attached to segments 14, or, for greater strength, to triangles as shown in dotted lines, fixed to the wings in obvious manner. Instead of cross-connections single ones could be used. Referring now to Fig. 6 which shows how the system of absorbing springs to limit oscillations and to take the thrusts of gusts of wind may be applied to a biplane: 15 are the planes and 10 the springs or their modification shown in Fig. 2 These planes are hinged as shown at 16 and the devices shown in Figs. 1 to 4 for the reciprocal movement of the planes may be used in connection with these planes. One of the advantages of my articulated wings or planes is that their span need not be so great as that of the existing rigid type of machines and therefore it will be possible to wheel the improved aeroplane on a road.

The planes both in Figs. 6 and 8 are provided with what I may term air sluices, that is to say apertures 16 with doors 17 whereby these apertures may be opened simultaneously on the two sides of the machine by a cord or the like 18, which will enable the machine to descend while maintaining its horizontality and whether stopping the motor or not. It is not intended that these air-sluices or valves should be independently operated on either side of the machine for balancing laterally. Opening the sluices of both wings simultaneously, decreases equally the carrying capacity of both wings (or pair of wings in a biplane) and as aforesaid allows of the aeroplane be ing lowered without dipping. The pulling cords or wires of the air-sluices will have enough extra length hanging loose so that the sluices will not be opened by apy oscillations of the wings. The doors are normally kept closed by a spring 19 and a I catch 20 of any suitable design and in well-known manner. It will be understood that in a biplane there will be four sluices (a pair of which are shown in Fig. 6.) In this figure, the main wire 18 branches into two wires a. and b. which are connected obliquely to the spring catches 20. I am aware that it is-not new to provide apertures in the wings or planes of aeroplanes having valves or doors therefor which are pivoted on axes parallel to the line of flight and adapted to be independently operated at either side of the machine for balancing laterally.

Referring now to Figs. 5. and 7. which illustrate my imporved elevator and automatic longitudinal stabilizer, this consists of a plane 25 pivotall suspended as at 26 from the frame 1. t is placed well-ahead of the fuselage and preferably higher than the center of gravity of the aeroplane and being freely suspended will tend therefore to remain in a horizontal position instead of following the inclination of the aeroplane when the latter has a tendency to dip at the front end, and the action of the weighted bar 0 at the rear end will push the front-end upward, thereby checking automatically the diving movement. As a controlled elevator, this little plane will serve to start or raise the aeroplane, through its front-end being raised by the pilot with .control-wires-Q'T. To keep this stabilizer horizontal in normal flight, a cross-bar 29 on the frame 1. prevents it from oscillating upward at the rear-end, and it is retained against this crossbar by the air-pressure (due to speed) on its downwardly-turned end. The upwardly-turned front-end is to give the plane a tendency to rise. A similar stabilizer may be used at the rear, except that its ends may not be bent. at least its front end; its Weighted bar will be under the front-end, and the fore-portion may preferably be longer than the rear portion.

I claim 1. In an aeroplane, a horizontal rudder pivotally and freely suspended from the frame with its front end upturned and its rear end downturned, and means to limit the upward tilting of the rear end whereby tohedral angle, stays connecting the wings to v the frame, springs interposed in the stays, and an unyielding flexible connection between opposite wings whereby to cause the same to move upwardly or downwardly in unison.

In tesetimony whereofI aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PAUL DE CREQUY. Witnesses:

THOMAS WILLIAMS, ANNIE GILL. 

